Berry pickers

Employment agencies should ensure a monthly income of at least Bt100,000 for workers who go to Sweden and Finland to pick berries during the annual picking season from July to September, Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said yesterday.

Phadermchai said he told Employment Department chief Pravit Khiangpol and the Office of Overseas Employment Administration to speak with ambassadors from the countries, to try to ensure workers are only hired by firms that guarantee such an income. The minister, who recently visited 5,000 Thai workers at five berry-picking camps in the two nations, said if talks were fruitful, the income-guarantee scheme should be in place by next year. He also planned to propose that Thai workers be hired to plant trees in Finland.